Photographing in Artificial Light

I have always been a very very firm believer in natural light being the best light to photograph jewellery in, always saying never use artificial light. I have been very frustrated with the nights being dark so early so I have only had time to photograph early in the morning before work (which is sometimes dark too, so not always!) or at weekends - which kind of puts a dampner on listing new things in my shop.

I made these copper stacking rings over the weekend and time escaped me and I didn't photograph them. After asking on Twitter (I think it is called crowdsourcing, no?) a lot of people actually took photos using artificial light and making it work by using the white balance. So I popped up my light tent and placed it quite close to one of the wall lights in the living room, standard yellow bulbs. Adjusted the white balance and actually it worked really well!

The light was clean and white like daylight, only a hint of yellow which would be removed in photo editing.
I think you need a light tent here as it diffuses the light so it isn't so sharp, so you don't get harsh shadows or too much yellow.

I'm really pleased with how these came out, I think I will use daylight wherever possible but this technique will definitely see me well in the winter months.

The rings will be available in my shops very soon!

gorilla photography

I've been wishing to improve my necklace and modelled shots lately and my Christmas gift of a gorillapod was just what I needed.



I definitely think that having photographs of necklaces being worn really helps sales of them, as people can see the size properly, more so than any kind of necklace bust.



I had a good photography session yesterday afternoon, I set up my camera in front of a small mirror next to the window, with my camera on the gorillapod.

I'm so pleased with how my new necklace photographs look, definitely more steady than me trying to take a picture with my arms held out in front of me. Or worse trying to balance my camera on something precarious!

slate

This is actually a drinks coaster..
I love how well it photographs next to my jewellery, it works with almost any piece and it gives great depth and interest to them.

I think I may have to use this for all of my pictures in future!

They also look great around the house too, you may have spotted them in various food related bloggings.

xx

Catch up blog!

I've been busy filling up my shop this week and playing around with snazzy cameras.. so this is a pictorial catch up!

Some new items:

Aqua - sterling silver earrings made with gorgeous sea blue trumpet beads

Spring Snow - milky white briolettes hung from sterling silver.

I had a go on an SLR camera the other day, sadly not mine to keep though, and i was so impressed with the pictures I might have to start saving up.

If you scroll down to a couple of entries ago there is a picture of some blossom in my garden, using my usual camera. Now look how it turned out using this SLR...

Amazing, the colours are so lovely, I might frame this.

I also got a Treasury this week and filled it with delicate and airy things to match the spring weather we've been having (at last!).


Hopefully i will be back soon with more new items! :)